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| re: Arthur Laurents | |
| Posted by: ryhog 07:12 pm EDT 07/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Arthur Laurents - Chazwaza 06:05 pm EDT 07/13/18 | |
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| Understood and apologies if I contributed to the mixup. A few quick thoughts: 1. I think we pay too much attention to the opinions of people just because they had a creative hand in something. To me, it's like listening to parents tell you about their grown children. 2. I am not inclined to make qualitative judgments comparing the past and the present (or future). I think there are a lot of exciting choreographers around nowadays. 3. While we may disagree about where is the best place to do what, right now we can anticipate something fresh in a commercial production and look forward to that. 4. I think I have mentioned this before here, but I was quite taken with what Jon Rua (of Hamilton and In the Heights, and now of Squarepants), a fine dancer and choreographer (see #2) who did a tribute to WSS by re-inventing Dance at the Gym with his choreography, set to Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines. (linked below) Like with Shakespeare, great things prompt great re-inventions. (E.g., R&J to WSS to this.) To me this is the sort of thing that keeps things exciting. |
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| Link | Rua/Thicke/Dance at the Gym |
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| re: Arthur Laurents | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 06:08 am EDT 07/14/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Arthur Laurents - ryhog 07:12 pm EDT 07/13/18 | |
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| I appreciate all you're saying and agree with much of it. But I don't think that video is relevant to the discussion of new choreography to WSS... that is a music video of Blurred Lines, with the premise for the video being inspired by the dance at the gym in WSS. If anything this would support the argument that if we want new fresh stuff people today should just make new stuff and not revive the things from the past, aside from nodding to or honoring them. And the choreography in the video is really good, but this isn't an example of the fresh stuff we could have in a Robbins-less WSS because no one danced like that in 1956. So unless they want to do the whole show with modern dance in a period piece, this wouldn't really fit. And I wouldn't be opposed to that... not unlike the concept behind Spring Awakening actually. But that's a specific take on how to do the show now... it's not necessarily doing the show as written. Not to mention that the music isn't at all fitting for this kind of choreography. I know you weren't suggesting this is what we see done for the actual WSS but I'm not entirely sure what the point was because you can turn on So You Think You Can Dance and those kinds of shows and see exciting modern choreography to modern songs, that doesn't mean we're gonna see that applied to a musical taking place in the 50s. |
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| re: Arthur Laurents | |
| Posted by: ryhog 11:54 am EDT 07/14/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Arthur Laurents - Chazwaza 06:08 am EDT 07/14/18 | |
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| well it seems I continue to do a great job of mixing things up. No, I am not at all suggesting that this could slide into a production of WSS but more along the lines of how it could be the foundation of a work inspired by it, in much the way that WSS was inspired by R&J. I do think it might be interesting to see this style of choreography set to LB's music, but I haven't really thought out how that would read broadly. I do believe there is something to be said for telling the WSS story taking place in NYC in the 50s in a way that relates to New York 65+ years later, and maybe 65+ blocks farther north. | |
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